Larry Doby, pioneering Black baseball star, given Congressional Gold Medal

A Congressional Gold Medal ceremony posthumously honoring Major League Baseball player, civil rights activist and World War II veteran, Lawrence Eugene “Larry” Doby, takes place in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

By Dan Whitcomb

(Reuters) – Larry Doby, who in 1947 became the second Black player to break baseball’s color barrier, leading the Cleveland Indians to a World Series championship the following year, was honored on Wednesday with Congressional Gold Medal.

Hall-of-Famer Doby, who died in 2003, was posthumously awarded the medal by congressional leaders during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, held on what would have been his 100th birthday.

The Congressional Gold Medal posthumously honoring Major League Baseball player, civil rights activist and World War II veteran, Lawrence Eugene “Larry” Doby, is seen before a ceremony in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

The baseball star’s son, Larry Doby Jr., accepted the medal on his father’s behalf.

“This means the world to my family,” the younger Doby said in brief remarks. “He would be extremely proud and humbled by this.”

Doby, a star in the Negro Leagues who had served in the U.S. Navy during World War Two, followed Dodgers second baseman Jackie Robinson into baseball’s major leagues by three months and endured much of the same ill treatment.

Larry Doby, Jr., speaks after accepting the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously honoring his father, Major League Baseball player, civil rights activist and World War II veteran, Lawrence Eugene “Larry” Doby, during a ceremony in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

As the first Black player in baseball’s American League, he overcame those difficulties to star for the Indians and later for the Chicago White Sox.

In 1948, he became the first Black baseball player to hit a home run in a World Series game during a championship year for the Indians. After retiring as a player he coached in the major leagues, becoming baseball’s second Black manager when he was hired for the job by the White Sox in 1978.

“American culture remembers Jackie Robinson, as we’ve heard here today, but we’re ensuring that America also remembers Larry’s contributions to sport and society,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said during the ceremony.

“Up until Larry took the field for the Indians in 1947, the existence of Black athletes in sports was regarded as an experiment,” Johnson said. “His ascent to the major leagues was an affirmation that not only do they belong, they make the game much better.”

Larry Doby, Jr., accepts the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously honoring his father, Major League Baseball player, civil rights activist and World War II veteran, Lawrence Eugene “Larry” Doby, during a ceremony in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)